Verner Panton, born in Gamtofte, Denmark, in 1926, attended the Technical School in Odense and then studied architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.
From 1950 to 1952, he worked in Arne Jacobsen's architectural practice, and in 1955 he founded his own architecture and design studio. Panton first attracted attention with his furniture based on geometric shapes, produced by the company "Plus-linje". In the years that followed, he created numerous seating designs and lights for renowned manufacturers such as Vitra, Fritz Hansen and Louis Poulsen. Verner Panton worked as a designer until his death in 1998, and today the Dane has legendary status. Many of Verner Panton's designs are now produced under the Verpan label.
Unlike most other Scandinavian designers, Panton did not seek evolution in design but revolution. He wanted to encourage people to use their imagination – and that is exactly what he did in his own designs. Panton loved experimenting with colours, materials and manufacturing techniques; simply refining what had already proved itself never occurred to him. Because of this philosophy, many contemporaries criticised Panton's designs as not "timeless". The fact that his designs still fascinate today, and that interest in his products remains strong, proves the opposite.
His sense of colour, light, form and space sets Verner Panton apart from the crowd. Panton often combined the design possibilities of these individual elements to create impressive installations. His legendary interiors aimed to merge floor, walls and ceiling with furniture, lights, textiles and enamel or plastic wall panels into a complete, inseparable spatial unit. The "Visiona" exhibitions at the Cologne Furniture Fair in Germany (1968 and 1970), the Spiegel publishing house in Hamburg (1969) and the "Varna" restaurant in Aarhus (1970) are just the best-known examples.
